Instincts of Survial
by Darcyjackal
Summary: The sequal to Criteria of Life- Jack has been watching and waiting to strike at the ghost boy, but fate has interveened. Now stranded in the Zone with a ghost that has no powers, Jack fears that he is doomed but Phantom may surprise him.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is the sequal to Criteria of Life. This is a Jack revelation fic-that just happens to include Skulker! **_

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**Chapter 1—Fighting in the Park**

Jack Fenton put the binoculars up to his eyes to get a better look at the infamous ghost boy. Phantom had been acting rather sluggishly as of late and he knew it was the best chance to finally catch him—but for some reason he was never able to so. Maddie always ended up jeopardizing the hunt in some way—he had a feeling she was doing it on purpose because messing things up was his job. He didn't voice his thoughts though—because if he did he bet that it wouldn't be a pretty sight—you never wanted to get a Fenton woman angry. So he took it upon himself to catch Phantom, and right now he wished the ghost would just hurry up and do something.

The ghost had been circling the town clock for two hours now. He wasn't really staring at it, but it was odd the way he glanced at it then back at the town, as if he was expecting something to happen. He sat on the edge sometimes, got up and circled the spire, but for what purpose Jack couldn't fathom. Finally, when the clock chimed two thirty over the town, Phantom descended to the ground by a large white truck.

Jack recognized that truck all too well—the ice cream truck. It made its usual rounds around town all summer, but it never came by the Fenton's block on account of past experiences of being shot at by Jack Fenton after the driver was accused of being a ghost—and for being out of triple chocolate fudge ripple ice cream. Jack and his family had been banned for life from that store, and approaching the truck within one hundred feet. Jack measured the distance to make sure he wasn't violating the restraining order and put the binoculars in Phantom's direction.

The hunter watched, puzzled, as Phantom conversed with the man in the truck—the same man Jack said was a ghost—almost as if it was an exchange between two human friends. Phantom set a couple of coins on the counter—Jack wondered where he had gotten those—and the man nodded and disappeared for a second into the bowls of the truck. When he came back, he handed Phantom—an ice cream?

Jack took the binoculars down for a second and rubbed his eyes, sure he was seeing things. Ghosts couldn't eat. For one they were dead, and two, they were unstable matter. They shouldn't be able to pick up solid objects long enough to eat them, and if they managed to do so, the food would just pass right through them once they took a bite. Ghosts didn't need food to survive anyway, so why bother with such a thing? Using the binoculars, Jack saw that Phantom was still talking with the man and noticed the type of ice cream Phantom now held in his gloved hand—triple chocolate fudge ripple. The hunter sighed heavily at remembering his loss, than frowned at the ghost's odd selection.

Triple chocolate fudge ripple was extremely rich in flavor. It made most people sick after just licking it because it was so sweet. Besides Jack, Danny was the only other one that could stomach the rich delicacy. Danny might not complain about vegetables or meat, but when it came to his sweets, he was just as consumed as Sam about her vegetarian ways or Tucker and his meat loving obsession. Especially as of late now that Jack thought about it.

His thoughts were distracted from his son and were turned back to Phantom as the ghost shot up into the sky and back up on the clock. He sat down and began to enjoy his treat—a fact that Jack became jealous of. As he watched Phantom eat, Jack began to wonder if ghosts could digest the enzymes at all—or if they even had taste buds and did this for occasional fun. Being dead and having no responsibilities must become boring at some point in eternity.

After Phantom licked his gloves to be rid of the chocolate drops, he pulled something from his pocket and clipped it onto his belt—when did he get that?-and placed two small buds into his ears that were connected by thin wires. It must have been some sort of musical device. Phantom picked up the part he clipped onto belt and began to look at it and scroll through what Jack assumed was music selections. Finally picking one, Phantom placed the thing back on his belt and took off, but didn't seem to be in any hurry since he just seemed to glide over the town proper and then out of sight.

Jack scrambled out of the bushes then got into the RV. Turning the scanner on, he began to follow his prey. Phantom was slow enough to where Jack caught up with him pretty easily on the streets. He was flying slow enough to where Jack could actually take his time and not run over anything as he drove.

"Where is he going?" Jack asked himself as Phantom seemed to be just to be going in random directions.

Finally, Phantom picked up the pace and headed towards the park. Jack parked in a legal area and climbed out, the Fenton Fisher in his hands—but unfortunately still tangled. He used a hand held scanner to track Phantom down to a clearing in the park and was curious as to why Phantom was just standing on the hill. The ghost looked around then put a hand to his mouth and whistled shrilly. Jack winced at the loud noise, but his eyes widened when he saw a small green blob come racing up the hill towards the ghost boy.

"Cujo!" Phantom yelled in delight as the blob came closer.

Jack now saw that the blob was a dog. It jumped up with a happy bark and knocked Phantom down to the ground with a thud. The ghost only laughed as the puppy began to lick his pale face. Phantom pushed the dog off of him and stood up, brushing the dirt off of his pants. He pulled out a stick from his belt and threw it quite a ways. The dog raced after it, tail wagging madly. Jack watched puzzled as Phantom and the dog did this for quite some time.

_He's capable of recreational activity? _Jack thought as he watched. _He's having fun, look at that smile on his face—and the dog's. Maybe Maddie and I have been going at this the wrong way. Maybe, we can trick Phantom into a trap. It's obvious that he's a kid, a dead kid, but a kid none the less. _

A green blast of energy knocked Phantom from the hill and made him land in a tree. A hulking metal figure landed on the now scorched hill, looking around for what it had just targeted.

"Where are you whelp?" he yelled in the air.

Phantom answered by slipping out of the ground and punching the thing in the face—hard. The ghost went flying high up in the air as if he weighed nothing but a feather.

_Okay, a super strong super powered dead teen, _Jack amended in his mind. _Maybe I need to think of a better plan. _

Phantom jumped back as the ghost came back to earth and punched the land, creating nice sized crater.

"Ever think about changing your occupation to landscaping?" Phantom asked, a cocky smile on his face as he watched the ghost pull itself out of the hole.

"I am a hunter and a hunter only!" the ghost yelled, a bunch of rockets popping out of its shoulder and firing at Phantom.

The ghost boy only fake yawned as he became intangible and let the threats pass through him, and head straight for Jack. The ghost hunter yelped and jumped as far out of the way as he could before the loud deafening booms of the rockets exploding sounded.

"Jack!" he heard Phantom yell in what sounded like concern, but the loud sounds of the other ghost's jet pack sounded and Jack knew the ghost boy was in a fight.

Getting up and grabbing his one weapon, the hunter looked up at the sky just in time to see Phantom punch the metal guy back down to earth, creating another crater by Jack's feet.

"Eat Fenton Fisher spook!" he yelled, brandishing the pole, but the line was nothing but a messy ball of line. "Oh crud," he said when the ghost flew out of the hole and saw him.

"Skulker will eat nothing human!" the ghost yelled in his face. "I am Skulker! The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! And you, are not worthy of matching my abilities."

"Hey, I'm a hunter too," Jack said, pouting slightly.

"Uh yeah, but you don't threaten to skin people and put their pelts by your fire place," Phantom said, coming up and punching Skulker in the side of the head when the ghost was distracted.

"But we don't have a fire place," Jack said puzzled, before it dawned on him. "Oh, I get it—EW!"

"Stand still!" Skulker threatened, trying to shoot a cross bow at a very speedy Phantom.

"No way Sku-loser," Phantom shouted, sending an ecto-blast so fast that Skulker wasn't prepared and lost his weapon as it was blasted from his arm.

"Speedy little thing isn't he?" Jack asked himself as he watched the fight progress.

Phantom landed a few more punches before he reached to his side for what resembled a Fenton Thermos, but Skulker saw it coming and fired a gun at Phantom's hand. The younger hissed when the blast hit him and sent his thermos flying into a tree somewhere.

"You're losing your touch," Skulker grinned, than his eyes slid to Jack. "I think I'll make the hunt more interesting this time around."

Phantom followed the ghost's eyes, his own hardening.

"Oh no you don't!" Phantom shouted, charging Skulker in a hurry, but Skulker pressed something on his suit.

Phantom screamed and a second later Jack joined him before he lost all consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**_This is probably going to be shorter then Criteria now that i look at the plan-but it will be just as good. _**

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**Chapter 2—RUN!**

Jack groaned, slowly sitting up and rubbing his head. It felt like he had just been run over with the Assault Vehicle. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was on a flat plain of some kind. There was nothing in sight other than grass and a line of trees that looked to be at least a mile out of reach. When he looked up, hoping to see where he was by the position of the sun, but there was no sun—only green, green, and more green. He was in the Ghost Zone.

"Rotten ghosts!" he yelled into the air, fist waving.

His shout was answered with a groan over to his right. He looked down and saw Phantom beginning to push himself up off of the ground, but he fell back on his chest, knocking the wind out of himself and coughing. Phantom tried again and succeeded in pushing himself onto his knees. He rubbed the back of his head as if he was in pain, and look around to get his bearings.

"You!" Jack shouted at him, getting the ghost's attention rather quickly. "You brought me here!"

"Oh yeah, I brought you here then knocked myself out and giving myself a headache large enough that it feels like it's going to split my skull in two," Phantom snapped sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I'm a kidnapping genius!"

Jack wasn't too sure how to respond to that. He was quiet as Phantom shakily got to his legs and jumped, only to be brought back down to earth again with a painful landing on his front. Phantom was quick to get up and hold his nose. He sat down and lifted his head to the sky, pinching the bridge of his nose and wincing. Jack noticed that there were green smudges around the ghost's face.

"You broke your nose?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Shut up," Phantom sniped in a high voice. "Something's wrong with me."

"Like what?"

"Like I can't fly," Phantom seemed to focus on something and brought his other hand up to his eyes. "Can't go invisible either," he looked to be concentrating again, but his face fell a second later. "I can't summon up my energy. My powers are gone."

Jack was about to whoop for joy, but then realized that they were in the Ghost Zone—surrounded by ghosts who would love to tear them to pieces. Yeah, this was not a good thing. Jack had realized that he had been counting on Phantom to get him out of here, because he couldn't do it on his own and with no weapons he was doomed—now that Phantom didn't have his powers for some strange reason—they were both doomed.

"This is bad," Jack said, beginning to voice his thoughts. "Do you know where we are at least?"

"I don't think I've seen this place before, but I bet I know who put us here," Phantom's eyes narrowed in the distance.

Jack turned to see what the ghost was looking at and froze. It was that mechanical hunter from before—Skulker. He seemed to be decked out in something rather flamboyant and over the top—meaning supped up battle armor and more weapons that Jack could ever hope to come up with. Skulker was riding some sort of large grey beast that kind of resembled a rat and a lizard crossed together, he was striding it on his boots while handling the reins that controlled the head.

"RUN!" Phantom shouted then took his own advice.

Jack followed him, not really caring if Phantom was a ghost or not—he clearly wasn't the threat here. Phantom was making a bee line for the trees and Jack saw why. That hulking thing of a creature was too big to follow them in there; if they made it, Skulker would have to get off and follow them on foot.

"Keep running!" Phantom shouted again, looking over his shoulder and gaining speed.

Jack looked too and saw the Skulker gaining on them much quicker then he thought. He put on an extra burst of speed and sprinted for the trees. That thing was nearly upon them now, the ground shaking with the enormous strides of the beast and heavy beats of its breath could be heard as well.

Phantom made it to the trees first and jumped into their safety. Jack was about to follow but he tripped on something and fell onto his face. He turned onto his back, just in time to see the creature loom over him and open its mouth to expose large sharp hungry fangs. Jack prepared to be eaten, but a cold hand grabbed his shoulder and before he knew it, Jack was being dragged into the trees.

Jack opened his eyes with the sense of motion. He looked up to see Phantom's green eyes looking down on him.

"Get up, we aren't safe yet," he said, getting out of the way so Jack could get up himself.

They jogged a ways before Phantom had to stop and rest. Jack didn't complain, he was pretty beat himself, only when he sat down did he realize just how tired he was. Now that they were still, Jack decided to look around.

They were in a jungle, the trees loomed up high and imposing, the leaves bigger then Jack's whole body, and the rocks cold and blue underneath them. He couldn't see the green sky because the trees blocked it, but something was providing light in this atmosphere. There were no shadows that Jack could see, other than his own and Phantom's. He also noticed that it was a bit cooler here then it had been out on the plain. What he also noticed was a lack of a water source, a food supply, and shelter.

Not good.

"We got to find shelter," Jack said, looking at Phantom.

"Yeah, I think it's getting pretty close to night fall," Phantom agreed, to Jack's shock. "I don't want to think what will happen if we're left out in the open at night."

Seeing his point, Jack got up and started to walk. Phantom followed, but he was sagging behind. Jack glanced back at Phantom over his shoulder every once and awhile, just to make sure the ghost was there. Why he bothered he wasn't sure. Phantom was a ghost; he would be fine when he got his powers back, but what if he didn't? That question troubled Jack. Phantom might be useful to him out here in the Ghost Zone. Besides, if Phantom lost his powers, what would that mean for him?

Jack decided not to answer that—it scared him too much.

After a time, Jack felt extremely tired. He didn't know if that Zone had a night time, but his instincts told him it was night time back home. He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. He stopped to look back and see how Phantom was faring, but he didn't see the ghost anywhere.

"Phantom!" Jack called, wincing for once at how loud his voice was.

He really didn't need that other ghost to find him, but he just had to find Phantom—he felt it in his gut that he was going to die without that spook's help.

"Phantom!" he yelled again.

With no answer, Jack began to retrace his steps along the path. When he rounded a bend, he saw Phantom, panting as he leaned against a tree. He looked very unstable and weak as he hung there against the bark.

"Are you okay?" he asked, shocked to see sweat on Phantom's face as the ghost turned to face him.

"I don't know," the ghost whispered, sounding weak. "I can't run anymore Jack."

"Then we'll walk. Come on, I think I saw a cave up ahead a few meters."

Phantom nodded then pushed himself from the tree to follow Jack. The ghost hunter had to slow his pace to match Phantom's stumbling strides, but they managed to reach the cave that Jack was talking about.

It was a small hole against a rock hill side, but it was well hidden from any prying eyes. The interior was rocky, cold, and unpleasant with a musky scent of some animal that had long abandoned it. Phantom really didn't seem to care as he crawled in and collapsed on one side of the cramped space. Jack crawled in after him, just barely fitting his bulk through the hole then just nearly missing his head on the low ceiling.

He positioned himself on the opposite wall and watched Phantom for a second. The ghost was taking very shuddering breaths as if he had just run across the world. His face was paler then normal and his face was shiny with sweat. He looked utterly exhausted; and Jack supposed that was normal. After all, Phantom probably relied on his powers the whole time, never using his body for much else. The ghost wasn't use to doing all of this walking and running—he was use to flying and gliding. In Jack's mind, Phantom just became more of a burden then an asset.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Ello! Been a long time, but it's not my fault. My computer crashed on me and I was so scared that I would loose everything, but I didn't! YEAH! But the virus protection went bye-bye so I can't get on the internet on my own computer. :( It should be fixed soon though. Anyway, I'll go ahead and upload a couple of updates while I can. I have a lose description of how the rest of this one will go, I hope to get it done sometime within the next couple of months. When I have the time. **_

_**Happy reading! **_

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Chapter 3—Jurassic

"So, what do we do now?"

Jack waited for a response, but was met with silence. Quite a while ago, the atmosphere here became pitch black and rain began to pour down the hillside, keeping the cave dry at least, but cold as well. Jack had been watching the unusual weather, studying it with a deep interest, but he was soon bored of it. To block out the rocking thunder and bright lightening, Jack decided to start up a conversation with the only other thing here, but he wasn't talking. He turned his head to shout at the ghost, but stopped himself in surprise.

Phantom looked uncomfortable leaning against the wall at a crooked angle like that, but the ghost looked so exhausted and far away that Jack couldn't bring himself to talk. Phantom's bright green eyes were faded, a sign he was low on energy. Jack had noticed this after many of Phantom's tougher battles, also seeing that it also happened with other ghosts as well, but not as much as it happened with Phantom—especially as of late.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked the ghost, making the spector jump in surprise.

"I don't know," Phantom rasped, trying to shift his position, but it didn't do any good for comfort. "I haven't felt right since I woke up. I also haven't completely healed after my last big battle. I was hurt pretty bad and was drained almost to the point where I could fall apart. I've been trying to conserve my energy since then, but after today, I'm drained. I'm amazed that I had enough to run for as long as I did."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so," Phantom glanced outside then turned his green eyes on Jack. "Nothing is going to come out during that storm, so I think I can risk closing my eyes for a while."

"For what? Sleep?" the big man asked sarcastically. "Ghosts don't sleep—they don't need it with all of their energy supply just floating around them, they don't require it."

"Well, there's nothing to pull from here for me," Phantom said, looking to be in a bad mood but too tired to pull it off. "Just, let me know if something comes at us."

The ghost slumped into the rock and was almost immediately out of it. Jack was amazed, the only other person he knew who could just shut off like that, besides himself that is, was his son—and he was quiet stubborn to get out of bed in the morning too. He wondered if ghosts experienced the tension of an early wake-up call. It would be something to test.

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While Phantom slept adjacent from Jack, the big man was contemplating on how to get out of here. Apparently, there was no energy source for Phantom to pull from, meaning he was just as stuck as Jack was without his powers; maybe even more so because Phantom was use to relying on his powers for everything, meaning he might hamper Jack's escape more than help with it. Also, the lack of powers made Jack think that perhaps they were not in the Ghost Zone, or that they were in a part of the Zone that was completely lacking in the energy that a ghost needed to survive and remain stable. A weak point in the environment that might be the equivalent of a human desert; humans could remain the in harsh environment, but not for long without food or water—and shade. Perhaps this place, was like a Ghost Zone desert, drying up the ghost's energies until it died of starvation.

How he wished he had a pencil and pen to write all of this stuff down. He was sure to forget by the time he got out of here.

Anyway, back on track to escaping. The ghost who brought them here was no doubt still out there, looking for them, but like Phantom said, nothing would be traveling in this harsh weather. The problem was location—they didn't know theirs' and they didn't know their pursuer's. That would cause problems because Jack didn't want to bump into that metal-head again. Phantom was powerless and he was without his weapons—right?

Jack quickly went through his pockets, finding three granola bars, a few experimental anti-ghost bug-bombs, the Fenton Fisher (still in a knot), and a piece of lint that didn't make it into the dryer lint catcher. With these new variables, Jack quickly tried to come up with a plan. He didn't have one, but at least he could work on the Fenton Fisher to make it at least a helpful weapon.

He didn't know how long he sat there, bent over the Fisher and mumbling on how Danny should have done this—it was on the chore list for him to do—but he didn't notice when the rain stopped. It was the large sound of earth-shaking steps that broke his concentration. It also snapped Phantom out of his sleep. The ghost looked around blearily, trying to get a hold of his surroundings when the crushing steps became louder.

They both looked at each other, then at the entrance to the cave where nothing was visible except for the trees and rocks they scrambled over before. Suddenly, the roof shook in the cave, pelting them with dirt and rocks. Then the entrance was blocked as if a giant bolder was placed there by a giant hand—a scaly, smelly boulder. The blockade moved itself and replaced itself about a yard away.

"No way," Phantom whispered, looking up and out of the cave with an expression of awe on his face.

Jack had much the same look. What they were seeing, walking away very calmly from their hiding spot, was a T-Rex. It was far enough away now that they could see the large head and thick tail with tiny arms and sharp teeth that signified the dinosaur as a carnivore.

"I think I know where we are now," Phantom said, sitting back down against the wall of the cave. "Extinction Island."

"And where is that?" Jack asked, to scared and excited to really care he was talking to a ghost anymore.

"I don't know. I've only heard about it, like a legend type thing. I didn't know it actually existed," Phantom shook his head and sighed. "Basically, Extinction Island is a place for the last of one of its kind to stay and never die. It was supposed to be a safe haven for rare specimens, but if Skulker placed us here, then it's just another hunting ground for him, like some sort of sick, twisted version of a play ground for little kids."

"So, every kind of extinct animal from earth is here?" Jack asked.

"There and the Ghost Zone," Phantom nodded. "And I don't want to know what a Ghost Zone T-Rex looks like. We need to get out of here."

"Can you fly?"

Phantom closed his eyes for a minute, then frowned and began to rub his neck.

"I feel too drained, I don't think so."

Jack frowned at the way Phantom was rubbing his neck, it looked like he was in pain.

"You alright?" he asked.

"My neck just feels weird. It itches from the inside."

"Let me see."

Jack always wanted to get a close look at ghost physiology, he as just using the situation to his advantage. He bent down close and pulled down the collar of Phantom's suit. Phantom bent his head out of the way for Jack to see more clearly.

"It's a needle mark," Jack asked, stupefied. "It's really inflamed and red, I don't think whoever did this to you was kind enough to do it gently."

"Skulker," Phantom growled. "He probably injected something into my body to stop my powers. That would explain just about everything."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked pulling away.

"Without my powers, I'm pretty much human, besides the durability. I can still run, walk, normal stuff like that, but ever since we got here, I feel weak and shaky. I don't know how to explain it, but I think I'm feeling sick."

"It's probably a bad side effect to the tranquilizer," Jack blurted out, thinking out loud and not realizing it.

"What!"

Jack stopped his thinking and looked down at Phantom. The ghost boy looked worried, scared even, for some reason.

"Well, sometimes humans can have a bad reaction to anesthetics," Jack explained, thinking the ghost was confused and he had to elaborate his point. "The effects vary from nausea to death."

At the sound of 'death', Phantom went even paler then normal and hugged his knees as if for support. Jack was confused by this behavior. Phantom was already dead, so he didn't have to fear death, but perhaps things like this didn't happen very often to ghosts and he was scared of what would happen to him. After all, a ghost didn't have to fear death, but falling apart into oblivion as if you never existed, that would be scary to a ghost.

"You won't leave me . . . right?" Phantom asked, sounding scared, pathetic, and very much like a frightened little kid.

Jack sighed, being reminded of when Danny often came into his room when he was little and wanted his daddy to scare the ghosts away from under his bed. Danny had almost been in tears one night because he was sure the ghost was going to come and eat him.

"Come on," Jack said, brushing the question off, but not completely excluding Phantom as he spoke. "Let's follow the T-Rex, maybe we can find water if we follow it; from a distance of course. Can you get up?"

Phantom stood up shakily on his feet, ducking his head slightly so he wouldn't hit the rocky ceiling.

"I think I can manage," he said and started to walk out of the cave.

Jack let him walk out first, watching as the boy stumbled over small rocks in the pathway and jump over a rotten log and then fall in his weakened state. Every time though, Phantom would get right back up and move forward. Jack had to smile at the ghost's resilience—Phantom was stubborn, and perhaps, that wasn't a bad thing in their situation.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Ello again! This is a chapter-not a great one, not a bad one-just a chapter. **_

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Chapter 4—Instinct of Danger

Jack watched Phantom as the powerless ghost lead the way. The T-Rex's large footprints and the ever-quiet area were large clues that they were on the right trail. The human couldn't help but feel concerned for the weakened companion. Phantom would often seem side tracked with something then stumble off of the side of the path before forcing himself to walk straight ahead. Jack knew that Phantom didn't have a balance problem. With all of the fancy moves he used in the air, Phantom should have been like a cat on the high-wire. It seemed to take a lot of thought and energy for the ghost just to walk straight, and Jack knew that was a bad sign of his illness. He didn't know how much longer Phantom could last when his motor functions completely failed.

"I gotta sit down," Phantom panted and sat down where he was, not caring that it was a pile of mud for yards and there wasn't a single dry place to sit on.

Jack, not that winded since Phantom had been leading and not that fast since he was weaker then the man, stood beside the ghost and waited. He looked around them for signs of danger—and who wouldn't if there were dinos around? There was a thinning of trees here and more open land was ahead of them as they followed the T-Rex's tracks. In the distance, Jack could swear he saw a lake, shimmering in the odd green light of the Zone.

"Ha! You were right," Jack said, highly pleased at finding a source of water to parch his dry mouth, but one look at Phantom and he sobered up again.

The ghost looked worse than before.

"You okay?" he asked, watching the dulled aura around the ghost seem to fade with each second.

"My mouth is a desert," Phantom said and coughed into his arm. "And I'm shaking like a leaf."

"Well, if you have something that resembles a human's immune system, then you're just dehydrated," Jack mused. "Your body is using all of its resources to fight off whatever Sticker put in your system."

"Skulker," Phantom corrected weakly.

"Whatever," Jack shrugged, "you just need some fluids."

"I don't see much," Phantom said sarcastically.

"Well, I think I see a lake far out there, think you can manage for a little while longer?"

Phantom got up on his feet, spreading his legs apart to balance himself unsteadily in the mud.

"I'll make it," he said with conviction then pressed on.

The rest of the trip was down hill. It made it easier for Phantom so long as he kept his head back to keep from pitching forward; still, it was better than climbing up hill. Jack did notice the lack of animals around, even the large T-Rex they followed wasn't in sight. Phantom didn't seem to notice the silence, to intent on parching his thirst. Jack had the same idea, but still, the silence bothered him.

They made it to the lake side, Phantom bending down head first into the water and came back out with his hair dripping and water droplets running down his pale face, but it did seem to comfort him. He dipped his hand into the water and brought it back up to drink from.

"Are you sure it's okay to drink from?" Jack asked, not even questioning why Phantom was drinking in the first place since ghosts didn't need water.

"No point in keeping a tainted water supply with endangered creatures on the island," Phantom said logically and drank again.

Jack bent down for a taste of the water. It was evident that it was not dirty or poisonous in any way; it was so clear and pure that Jack could see the rocky bottom and the colorful fish that swam there, looking for morsels to eat. The taste as clean as well, just the slight aftertaste of silt which probably came from the sandy area that they had placed themselves in, but Jack wasn't one to complain at the moment.

"Feeling better?" he asked Phantom at seeing the ghost pull back from the water.

"I don't feel so shriveled up," Phantom sighed as he lay down on his back in the wet grass. "But I'm still exhausted. I can barely feel my core."

"Your what?"

"My core, my life source," Phantom tried to sit up to look at Jack to talk, but he didn't seem that motivated to do so; he continued to lay there as he explained. "My core is kind of like my heart, it gives me power and life, keeps me from falling apart. If that goes, I'm a goner."

Jack just stared at him. It was obvious that Phantom was out of it, otherwise he wouldn't have divulged such valuable information to a ghost hunter. He would probably say whatever came to mind without thinking about it first—a sign of losing touch with reality and spiraling into a fever delusion.

The ghost hunter bent down and touched Phantom on the forehead, feeling heat roll off the pale flesh.

"You're burning up," Jack whispered to himself. "How is that possible? You're a cryoconnetic; your body temperature should be below that of a normal ghost in order to keep you alive. You can't have a fever, you'd burn out within minutes."

Phantom heard none of this. He had closed his eyes some time after his explanation and dozed off as Jack inspected him. Suddenly, he shivered—almost like a convulsion—and woke up. Jack helped him sit up after the ghost's own vain attempts and was confused as to why his breath was visible after figuring out that Phantom had a fever. The jolt of cold was probably a shock to his system, thus the convulsion and jerk of his body.

"We got to get out of here," Phantom said urgently, looking around for something.

The bad feeling Jack had earlier was back and didn't argue. He started to turn and run back up to the trees, hauling Phantom up with him, but it was slow going with the mud and traveling up hill. The hefty footsteps squashing in the mud behind him mad Jack turn around to see what was pursuing them.

"I knew you would have to come out sometime," Skulker scoffed at seeing them, still atop his giant mount. "My Phantom, how weak and puny you look."

"You're one to talk!" Phantom yelled up at him, but it was marred with a cough. "If you were really the mightiest hunter in the Ghost Zone, you wouldn't need all of that armor."

Skulker scowled at him, raising an arm and aiming a cannon-like weapon at them. Jack gasped and leapt out of the way when he saw the light from the cannon as a queue to get out of there. Phantom gasped in his own surprise as Jack still had a hold of him and he went flying back down hill. Both rolled around clumsily, soaking themselves in mud and dried grass and coming to a stop in the lake.

"Thanks," Phantom moaned, pulling himself up out of the water.

"No problem," Jack moaned as he did the same, "but I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

Skulker was urging his mount to run down after them into the lake.

"Swim out," Phantom yelled.

Both started to head for the center of the lake, Skulker pushing the giant animal into the lake, but it seemed reluctant to go after them.

"I don't think it can swim," Phantom said as he and Jack treaded water.

"Of course! With a mass well over any land mammal and those protective plates on its back, it would be nearly impossible to stay afloat," Jack smiled brilliantly. "Man I wish I had something to write this down on!"

"As long as we stay out here, we should be fine!" then a look of horror crossed his features. "Oh crap."

"What?"

"I think I just jinxed us."

"Oh come on, there's no such thing as bad—" Jack was cut short by the arrival of a deep sea creature that had sprung up from behind them; showering them with water spray as it towered and roared at Skulker's mount by the shore as it was slowly crawling into the water after Skulker's choice prey, "luck?" Jack finished lamely.

The sea creature roared again and lunged forward. Jack grabbed Phantom's arm and paddled with the other to try and swim out of the way. The giant snake-like body came crashing down into the water, sending the lake into a roaring convulsion of chaos. Jack kept a tight hold on Phantom's arm, not wanting to lose the ghost for some reason, as the water thrashed them around and dunked them deep into the depths of the lake. Jack quickly swam back up, needing air before his lungs burst. He reached the top and gasped, a second gasp confirmed that Phantom was still beside him and Jack clutched the ghost's arm harder to make sure he stayed with him.

Without prompting from the mumbling ghost, Jack pulled himself to shore on the other side of the lake. The water was still rising and falling violently, but he was glad that the creature was not fixed on them; it was keeping the hunting ghost busy while the two managed to get to shore. Jack flopped onto the ground, panting from the energy lost at battling the water. Phantom was coughing heavily and Jack rolled him onto his side to make sure he didn't choke. Phantom spat out lake water and shivered from the chill the cold water was giving to his already battered and feverish body. His eyes were clouded over, as if in a trance.

"Phantom, come on," Jack urged the ghost, shaking him to try and get a rise, but Phantom stayed motionless and continued to cough water up. "We need to get going before Skulker finds us."

The ghost responded to that, but weakly. He rolled onto his stomach and tried to get up, but his arms collapsed under him and he fell again into the mud, moaning at just that small effort. He tried again, but Jack had become impatient. He grabbed Phantom and put him on his back, shocking the ghost slightly out of his daze.

"Just hang on," Jack told him as he guided the ghost's hands to hold around his neck.

Phantom nodded and looked back at the battle between sea and land creature, with Skulker yelling loudly and cursing profanities that both had never heard before. Jack moved back into the trees, hoping that they could find something to eat before the sun set and something ate them.


	5. Chapter 5

**_I update-again. Yes, the updates have been slow in comming, but so has the inspiration lately. It just up and poofed away one day, but it happens sometimes and when I get it back, expect lots of updats really quickly. So enjoy this one!_**

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**_Chapter 5—Instincts of Home_**

"Jack, put me down," Phantom whined quietly from Jack's back.

"You sure you can stand on your own?" Jack asked him, though the man himself doubted it.

Phantom had been wheezing in his ear the whole time Jack picked his way through the dense forest, trying to get away from the lake as quick as possible. He was not sure how long he had been running, but he did notice that it was getting darker. He found that odd since the Ghost Zone didn't have a sun to loose, but when he looked up, he saw a normal Earth sky instead of the eerie green of the Ghost Zone.

"How is that possible?" Jack asked himself staring up at the sky as the stars began to peek out.

Phantom started to struggle to get down and Jack tore his eyes from the sky to kneel so Phantom could get off of his back without hurting himself. He felt the ghost get off, but a second later, there was a thump behind him. Jack turned around to see that Phantom had fallen onto his rear. While rubbing his head, Phantom caught sight of the sky and stared at it, as if searching for something.

"This is Earth isn't it?" Jack asked him, tearing Phantom's dull eyes from the sky and onto him. "Not some sort of trick?"

"No, it feels like Earth," Phantom said, looking just as baffled as him. "My only guess is that because Extinction Island holds animals from _both _worlds, maybe the island is connected somehow between Earth and the Ghost Zone. We probably stumbled into the rift while running away."

"Makes just about as much sense as anything else," Jack groused, looking around the area.

It did indeed look more human. The plants were a normal green, the ground felt warm compared to the cold of the Ghost Zone, and the air felt a bit more pure here. He also heard a low swooshing sound from somewhere. It sounded like a large body of water, like an ocean. Well, they had gone from being stranded in the Ghost Zone, to being stranded on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere.

"I wonder how long we've been gone," Phantom spoke up startling the ghost hunter.

Phantom looked tired, his suit torn, his skin pale and sickly looking, but what caught Jack by surprise was that his aura was nearly gone. He normally glowed like a flashlight in the dark, but as the sun began to set, the dark came in on them and Jack was having a hard time trying to separate Phantom from the shadows.

"Well, it can't be more than two days," Jack said, answering the ghost's question. "Right?"

"I think so," but Phantom's tone told Jack the ghost was not sure. "I don't feel so good."

The ghost brought his hands up to his head, as if trying to ward off pain. He groaned slightly when a breeze came through and hit their partially dried forms. Jack got down to his level and put a hand on the ghost's face.

"You're burning up," he stated. "You could cook fudge on your forehead."

It sounded like Phantom tried to laugh, but it was covered by a cough that made the whole ghost's body shake like a leaf. Jack winced at the sound, it sounded like he was trying to cough up rocks. Phantom seemed to lose his back bone and went limp. Jack caught him before he could hit the dirt, but the hunter paused. He could feel Phantom's ribs through the suit material, the rise and fall of his chest as he labored to breath, and the distinct thump of a heart, or was it this core that Phantom had been talking about earlier before they were attacked?

"You have bones? And lungs?" Jack asked him, but a slight groan was the only answer he received. "Come on, let's find some shelter for the night."

Phantom tried to stand, but he couldn't even sit up. Jack took it upon himself to put the ghost back on his back like before and continue walking.

"Thank you," Phantom whispered in his ear.

Jack paused, unsure on how to answer that. He never had a ghost thank him before, he had never expected it from a being that could not express gratitude; but Phantom had proven himself to be wildly different.

"No problem," he muttered back.

The cave was enough to keep Phantom out of the wind. As the sky became blacker, the wind picked up enough to where Phantom was shivering uncontrollably against Jack's back constantly. Spending the night in another cave didn't sound very comfortable, but Jack felt he had to think about Phantom first for some odd reason. The cave was bigger then the last one in the Zone. Jack was able to gather enough wood and start a fire with the resources Maddie had taught him before on their honeymoon, after Jack accidently stranded them in the middle of nowhere. He put Phantom on the floor and the ghost curled up instantly, eyes screwed shut and breathing normal except for the coughing in his sleep.

The wound on the side of Phantom's neck was steadily growing inflamed and red. It looked rather painful to Jack and he had to wonder if it was possible that ghost wounds could get infected if their accelerated healing wasn't functioning like it should. It was obvious that Phantom was sick, he needed a doctor and badly, but Jack was no doctor, but Jack was all Phantom had at the moment.

To make the ghost more comfortable, Jack had removed Phantom's belt, which had been lost on him until now. Phantom had never worn something like this before, it was new. Obviously, it held nothing useful since Skulker must have removed anything that would have functioned as a weapon, but Phantom unconsciously slammed onto his stomach and curled up, obviously more comfortable now then he had been a moment ago. Jack dug around in the empty belt, hoping to find something, but his fears were confirmed when every pocket was empty, but why was it still on Phantom? Surely it would have been easier to just take the belt? And where did he get it anyway? It looked like the kind Maddie wore all of the time.

"Jack?"

The human looked up, throwing the belt to the side, feeling guilty with being caught with it.

"Yeah, Phantom?" Jack asked after a slight hesitation.

"Where are we?" Phantom asked tiredly.

"We're nowhere. Don't you remember what happened?" Jacked asked him.

Phantom slowly shook his head, but then saw his belt on the ground near Jack. He weakly reached for it, but his hand was slowly heading towards the fire where the belt rested on the other side. Jack ran over and caught his arm before he could burn it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jack scolded him. "There's a fire right in front of you!"

Phantom coughed again and reached for the belt weakly.

"Homing device," Phantom wheezed out. "In the belt. Signal. . . Mom. . ."

Jack blinked in bewilderment, then he was slightly angry.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" he yelled at the ill ghost. "We could have gotten home a long time ago!"

"Doesn't work. . . in Zone," Phantom slurred, weakly pulling himself towards his belt, just falling short of it. "Gotta get, Mom."

Jack could only shake his head. It was amazing what this fever was doing to his brain. He thought that there was a signal in his belt to contact his mother. He was a ghost, he had no mom, but, what if he did. Phantom was different, he had physiological needs of those close to a human, and perhaps, it wouldn't hurt to humor him now.

Sighing, his anger gone, Jack picked up the belt and put it into Phantom's hands. The ghost blinked for a minute, confused as to what had just happened, but ignored it and pressed something on the 'D' buckle. The symbol lit up quickly then started to blink on and off in a steady rhythm. So, there really was a homing beacon in the belt, maybe they would get out of here after all.

Phantom slowly slid back down to the tough ground, clutching his belt close to him as if it was a life line. He started to breath heavily as if he couldn't catch his breath.

"Phantom?" Jack asked, unsure what was happening.

The ghost cried out and clutched at his chest, doubling over in pain. Something must be happening to his core, maybe the equivalent of a heart-attack? Jack could do nothing but watch, feeling useless as Phantom's screams struck something in him that seemed long forgotten. He tried to remember what was trying to surface, an old memory of something.

_"Daddy!" _

Jack's eyes flew open as he recalled what he had suppressed. He looked down at an exhausted Phantom, his eyes half open as they roved the ceiling for something. Jack sat down next to the ghost and turned Phantom onto his back. There was a slight reaction of panic, but the ghost calmed down when he saw Jack.

"That hurt," he whispered, still clutching at his chest. "It feels like I'm dying."

Jack put his fingers up to Phantom's un-swollen side of his neck. He felt a pulse there, but a weak one, something was happening to his core for it to start shutting down. Whatever Skulker had injected him with, was killing him. Jack began to panic, he had to stop this somehow, but he didn't know how.

"You'll be fine," Jack encouraged him, but Phantom only closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Not in time," he whispered. "I can feel it in here."

The ghost weakly tapped his chest.

"Don't talk like that," Jack told him sternly, making the ghost blink in surprise. "You'll make it. I've seen you fight before, you're made of tough stuff kid."

"Thanks, I guess," Phantom chuckled weakly. "Didn't know you cared. Wait, yes I knew you cared, you just didn't know you cared."

"What are you talking about?"

Phantom chuckled again, coughing again, and making Jack think his fever had gotten worse.

"Just rest," he advised the ghost. "Don't want you using up the energy that you have left."

"I guess," Phantom's words were slurred and nearly inaudible.

After the ghost conked out, Jack decided to do the same thing. Dreaming of memories the ghost's screams had arisen in him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I am not sure if many of you knew what was going on, but some real heavy stuff happened all at once in my life and on top of that, I had lost all of my stories when my computer crashed and died. I have since then been trying to revive them straight from memory, and I've come up with some new one too, but that is besides the point. I've managed to find old hand written documents for most of my fics so most of them will be completed, but some might be hanging for a long time. But in the mean time, the rest of this fic is coming together. After reading the notes on this, I found that this Chapter was to be deleted and re-written and so it has been. **

**Happy reading all! Fay.**

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**Chapter 6-Instinct of Creativeness**

Danny was four, Jazz was six. Like any other pairs of siblings, they fought, almost constantly. Many a time Jack and Maddie had to defuse a situation that would have led to broken rockets or torn-up stuffed animals. Sometimes even fists were introduced, but it was a very rare occasion. Both Jazz and Danny were hardly fighters, even from a young age, but sometimes, things happened.

Jack remembered a particularly bad time when something had caused Jazz to go berserk. He hadn't remembered what it was exactly (whoever did anyway?), but he remembered the consequences after it happened. Both he and Maddie had been in the lab when they heard Jazz screaming like a banshee from upstairs then the horrifying thuds of a body tumbling down the stairs. Jack just knew something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut and the fear was overwhelming.

He was the first one up into the kitchen and then to the living room. He saw Jazz, bent over a sprawled Danny on the floor, shaking him, trying to wake him up and crying. The rest was really all a blur as Maddie called 911 and Jack tried to figure out what Jazz was trying to say. It turned out that the screaming had been Danny as Jazz backed him up to the steps, accusing him of something. It had all been an accident but Danny wasn't stirring at all. The EMTs came in, carried Danny out and Jack went with them, Maddie watched Jazz and followed in the car. In the ambulance, Jack kept trying to rouse Danny as the paramedics worked on him. The loud sirens made Jack scream over them and eventually, Danny did wake up, but he started screaming when he did so. The EMTs hadn't finished their job yet and hadn't administered the anesthetics to deaden any pain Danny might wake up with. However, soon after he woke up in the back of the ambulance, they wrestled with him, Jack holding his son down while the men stuck him with a needle and administered the pain killer. When they got to the hospital, Jack knew something was wrong beyond what the fall had done to his young son. They carted Danny into the ER, cutting Jack off from further following them, but he heard people rushing around behind that door in a great hurry. It was hours before they received any news. Danny had a few broken ribs and a big bump on the head, but he was going to be okay. The only thing was that he had reacted badly to the anesthetic, it had nearly killed him. The doctor advised them that in the future to tell any hospital staff exactly what Danny could and could not have when it came to medicines.

"There's no telling what else he might be 'allergic' too," the doctor had said, using quotes around allergic as a way to explain what exactly had happened to their son. "He nearly died if the paramedics had not told us when the symptoms started. His heart nearly gave out, he's very lucky."

* * *

Jack pulled his hand away from Phantom's enflamed neck and sighed tiredly. After he woke up from the fitful dream, Phantom had started to thrash slightly in his sleep. His fever had gotten worse, to the point that Phantom was completely delusional. His mumblings were incoherent and made no sense, his skin was almost white and he was sweating terribly, drenching his suit and the dirty floor of the cave.

His shallow breathing was harsh against the silence of the night. The fire crackled and popped as Jack fed it more of the wood he had found in the woods before night had fallen. An owl hooted and something large, a fox maybe, scampered in the grass, disturbing the dry leaves on the ground. Jack found no comfort in it since Phantom's wheezy breathing stuck him like a knife every time the ghost inhaled. It hurt that Jack could do nothing to ease Phantom's pain. Ever since he had come to the conclusion that Phantom was not a normal ghost, that he was more human than anything else, Jack had felt protective of him, as if Phantom was his own son.

Jack took the Fenton Fisher out as his thoughts trailed to Danny. Working on each knot, he thought about his son, on how Danny seemed to be more distant from him than ever before. Father and son never connected well in the past. Danny always had more in common with Maddie then Jack. He was always afraid that Danny would turn into a Momma's Boy, but eventually, Danny out grew her too it seemed. Jack was thankful to know he wasn't the only one, but he barely knew his son, and that hurt him in ways he never knew he could hurt.

Danny was special to him, the only boy in the Fenton Line since his brothers were either divorced with no kids, or had a houseful of girls. Danny was the only one that would carry on the Fenton name, if not the company and family business. He wasn't sure how Danny was going to do that with the grades he had, but he knew Danny would find a way. He was a smart kid; he knew how to get Jazz to stop ranting out in big words he didn't understand and to clam Maddie down after he had broken something, or something had blown up. Subtly had never been Jack's strong suit, a thing he was glad his son had.

He was proud of many things Danny had become, the talents that he had and the gifts he acquired, but he didn't understand how he acquired those gifts. His ability to control a conversation and clam an argument were amazing in the Fenton household, and something that Danny had only been able to do within the last year. Before that, he had been the shy kid and barely spoke up at home. He had become more confident within the past year, more certain of himself.

"Danny would have found a way to help," Jack grumbled as he tore at the glowing green fishing line in his hands. "Stupid ghost-proof coating."

A dawning of realization came across Jack almost like a slap in the face. The ghost-proof coating on the fishing line, of course! Jack's body started to vibrate from the excitement that radiated from his body like an atom bomb had just gone off in his head. He scrambled to find sharp rocks and to find more wood to heat up the fire. He took apart one of the test bug-bombs he had in his pocket and used the shelling as a bowl. Slowly, Jack put the fishing line over the fire and started to separate the ghost-proof lining from the actual line.

The resin was created so that the ghosts could not brake the line, but when not in a solid coating, it acted like a repellent. In the early testing phases of the anti-break resin, the coating seemed to repel what Jack and Maddie called 'dirty-plasm', a form of ectoplasm that was contaminated from outside sources. With any luck, this newly melted resin could repel the poison in Phantom's body long enough for his own body to fight it. Jack figured that Phantom's healing wasn't working because it was too busy battling the poison to keep him alive. If the antibodies could get some reinforcements, then Phantom might get better, a type of ghostly medicine.

The green goop gunked down slowly, looking like neon snot, as it slowly drooped down into the shelling of the mini bomb and sat there like gelatin. Jack could not melt much off before it filled the container, but hopefully, Phantom would not need much to help his immune system before seeing some positive results.

Jack put the Fisher away to the side and picked up the container with the green resin in it. Jack wondered which way would be best to administer the medicine: oral or rubbing it on the infected area. He guessed he could try both. He wasn't sure if it would hurt Phantom in anyway, but he was sure it wouldn't hurt any worse than the pain that Phantom was already in.

"Come on," Jack said as he propped Phantom's unconscious head up in his lap and pried his mouth open slightly. "Hope you can swallow reflexively."

He always wondered what it would look like if a ghost choked, a lot like a human choking he would imagine.

The ghost hunter slowly poured a tiny amount of the resin into Phantom's mouth. The smell wafted up to Jack's nose and he recoiled from it. The smoky smell of the fire had hidden it before, but now he could smell it. The resin smelled of burnt hair and a metallic scent that gave an odd taste in the back of the mouth, making Jack swallow, trying to get rid of it. He held his breath as he tipped the container again, straight into Phantom's mouth.

The ghost coughed violently after he swallowed, but he did not wake up. He gave no indication if it tasted horrible and Jack guessed that he was so out of it that Phantom couldn't even wake up to scream out horrible it was. Keeping the green stuff away from his face, Jack rubbed a little of it on Phantom's wound on his neck, keeping his glove on so he could take it off later and put it away in case he had to do this again.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

Jack looked down to see that Phantom's glassy green eyes were open and peering up at him strangely.

"Hey Phantom, how do you feel?" Jack asked, anxious to know if his idea had worked.

Phantom moved his eyes around a little, as if trying to look for an answer as he checked to see how he felt in his head.

"Better," he said with some surprise, "the pressure on my core is almost gone. What did you do?"

"Oh nothing much, just get some sleep, you'll need it."

Jack gently placed Phantom's head back on the ground as the ghost curled up to sleep again.

"Why does it feel like I swallowed a skunk?" Phantom asked.

Jack ignored him and leaned against the wall, falling back into sleep himself.

* * *

"Hey, are you awake?"

Jack snorted awake when he felt someone poke his shoulder. Phantom was on his knees in front of the ghost hunter, shaking his shoulder. Jack was surprised to see that Phantom looked a lot better, he still looked weak and tired, but his aura was glowing more brightly and his eyes didn't look as empty as before.

"Hey, you look better," Jack commented.

"I feel better," Phantom said, smiling, making Jack's heart warm. "Thank you, for whatever you did. You would be the last person I expected to help me out."

"Well, I've done some thinking," Jack admitted, standing up and stretching. "I've decided that you aren't all bad."

"Really?" Phantom asked, looking skeptical. "What happened to 'I'm going to rip you apart molecule by molecule'?"

Jack winced at that and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling guilty.

"I miss judged you. I've miss judged a lot of things," he said, looking into the fire. "I think I've been too wrapped up in my life to really pay attention to anyone else's life, namely my son's."

Phantom seemed to struggle with something as he shifted uncomfortably on the ground.

"Oh I really shouldn't be hearing this," Phantom mumbled but Jack ignored him.

"I know I've never connected well with Danny. We don't have anything in common, except for our love of triple chocolate fudge ripple ice cream!"

"And building things," Phantom said, making Jack frown. "Uh, I mean, he has all of those model rockets in his room right? I see them when I fly by his window sometimes, and you build all sorts of weapons, I see those more often then I want too."

"Hey you're right Spook; I wonder if Danny would want to build a real rocket!"

"That would be so cool!" Phantom burst out in a giant grin. "But it would have to be in the back yard."

"Oh yeah, wouldn't want to blow a hole in the roof . . . again," Jack grinned at the vivid memory.

Phantom giggled at something, as if he remembered the incident too, but he did not voice his thoughts on what he thought was so funny.

"Would you want to build it with us?" Jack asked.

"Uh, well, it sounds like it should be a father-son thing," Phantom said nervously. "Not a father-son-ghost thing."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Jack gave in, but then he frowned. "Who am I kidding. Danny wouldn't be caught dead with me, especially building something that he would hate."

"Hey, you never know until you try," Phantom said, looking more upset then he should have. "Who knows, maybe he actually thinks you're really cool."

"Oh please, how am I cool?" Jack asked Phantom. "I'm a bumbler, I admit it, I screw up. Things blow up more than they work in my hands. I can't even catch a ghost without being incredibly lucky, and even then I manage to screw it up."

"But, you beat up Plasmius when your house almost exploded!" Phantom interjected. "I have a lot of trouble with that guy. And you knew it was a good idea to follow the T-Rex to the water hole. You saved me from drowning in the lake and carried me on your back, even when I didn't want you to I might add. Plus you just saved me again by doing something that smells like the wrong side of the Behemoth, but still . . . and you've helped me get better when I was at your mercy. How can you not be cool?"

Jack stared at the ghost as he listed off his ramble, breaking off in to a whisper and looking down at the ground, his face looking regretful.

"You're a good boy Phantom," Jack said. "Your father was lucky to have a kid like you."

Phantom blushed and hid his face with his white hair. Jack smiled and looked out the mouth of the cave. It was still evening out, the dark sky containing stars. Jack decided he would ask Danny if he would want to build a real rocket, out in the back yard of course, and if he ever made it back home.

"Um, Jack, I need to tell you something," Phantom said hesitantly.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Um, this is really kind of hard to say so I'm just going to say it: I'm—"

The cave shook violently, the blasts coming from outside lighting up the dark like fireworks. Jack heard Phantom growl Skulker's name like it was a curse and the ghost ran out to confront the hunter ghost. Jack yelled after Phantom, telling him something along the lines to stay back, but pain shortened his words. He fell to the ground, his body numb from his mind.

"DAD!"


End file.
